Slow-moving vehicles with cameras stir curiosity

A utility company and its camera-equipped trucks have attracted notice in and around Fort Bragg over the past week or so.

Osmose Utilities General Manager Jason Milligan said last week the slow-driving white trucks with his company's logo and what look like video cameras mounted on the side are surveying overhead power poles and lines for PG&E.

The cameras actually record in infrared, which makes heat signatures of whatever they are pointed at visible.

Readers noticed the trucks in town last week and created some buzz on local social media. The vehicles reminded some of the Google Earth vans that have appeared locally, and in many other places, drawing mixed reactions and curiosity about what exactly they are recording.

Manager explains

Osmose Pacific Region General Manager Jason Mulligan said his company's task around Fort Bragg is to examine PG&E equipment on lines and poles only.

"We're not looking for anything but what's overhead," Mulligan said. "We find defects or issues with construction ... 20 or 30 feet off the ground, which are safety issues. We don't scan anything down towards people's homes."

Mulligan said the trucks typically drive very slowly, two or three miles per hour, while they are filming.